The entry arrangements for persons who wish to enter the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for residence under the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (hereafter “New CIES”).

The New CIES seeks to further enrich the talent pool and attract more new capital to Hong Kong. This will strengthen the development of our asset and wealth management business, financial services and related professional services.

The New CIES does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Cuba and Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have continuously possessed no less than HK$30 million (or its equivalent in foreign currency) in net assets or net capital for the entire period of the two years immediately preceding the date of submission of the net asset test application, and they must invest a minimum of HK$27 million in permitted financial assets and/or non-residential real estate, as well as contribute HK$3 million to the [Capital Investment Entrant Scheme] portfolio.

Individuals aged 18 or above, including foreign nationals, Chinese nationals who are permanent residents in a foreign country, and Chinese residents of Taiwan or Macao SAR.

Government to expand TTPS list of universities to broaden network for attracting talents

The Government announced on 26 October 2023 that from 1 November 2023, the list of eligible universities under the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) would be expanded to add eight top institutions from the Mainland and overseas, making a total of 184 institutions, with a view to attracting more talents to Hong Kong for development.

From 1 November 2023, the list of eligible universities will also include eight additional top institutions from the Mainland and overseas, namely:

1. EHL Hospitality Business School
2. Swiss Hotel Management School
3. Les Roches Global Hospitality Management Education
4. Glion Institute of Higher Education
5. Hotelschool The Hague
6. Wuhan University
7. Xi'an Jiaotong University
8. Harbin Institute of Technology

*The eligibility criteria, procedures and immigration arrangements of the TTPS remain unchanged.

Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS)

The TTPS applicants are not required to have secured an offer of employment in the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) upon application. They may be granted 24 months’ stay on time limitation only without other conditions of stay. Applicants may choose to apply for the TTPS under one of the categories as listed below:

1. Persons with annual income reaching HK$2.5 million or above, or its equivalent in foreign currency, in the year immediately preceding the date of application (Category A);
2. Degree graduates of the world’s top 100 universities with at least 3 years of work experience over the past 5 years immediately preceding the date of application (Category B);
3. Degree graduates of the world’s top 100 universities in the past 5 years immediately preceding the date of application with less than 3 years of work experience, subject to an annual quota which is to be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis (Category C); however, Category C does not apply to those non-local students who have obtained the undergraduate qualification in a full-time and locally-accredited programme in the HKSAR.

As compared to Quality Migrant Admission Scheme ("QMAS"), TTPS processing time is much faster (normally within 1 month for TTPS, while 6 months+ for QMAS).  QMAS applicants, however, will get a 3-year initial visa. A further point to note is that for QMAS applicants, any degree (bachelor, master or doctoral) from the world's top 100 universities will score the extra 30 points, while TTPS only considers bachelor degree.

Below is a table of the new visa period pattern. These enhanced measures are applicable to the applications submitted on or after 28 December 2022. For applications submitted before 28 December 2022, successful applicants will be granted entry in the original pattern of limit of stay.

Hong Kong – Exemption of proof of local recruitment & applicant’s work experience for some employment visa cases

HK Immigration Department has announced a list of facilitation measures under the General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP).

Proof of local recruitment is exempted if:

• it’s an intra-company transfer for managerial / professional post;
• the applicant was graduated from one of the top 100 global universities [further, proof of work experience is not required] ; or
• the applicant is employed by well-established company with annual remuneration of at least HK$2 million [further, proof of academic qualification & work experience are not required]

These measures streamline the application requirements and reduce preparation time substantially.  Besides, exempting the local recruitment reduces the embarrassing moment when the company is arranging an intra-company transfer, where it indeed would not consider outside candidates at all.  These show that HK government is committed to attracting quality talents to work and stay in HK.

The Government announced that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and with a positive result of serology testing for antibodies will be allowed a shortened compulsory quarantine period of seven days upon arrival.

To learn about Hong Kong latest quarantine arrangements for inbound travelers from specified places, please see below link:-

https://www.brandhk.gov.hk/html/en/Hong-Kong-Update/Entry-to-Hong-Kong.html

Normally, an extension of visa can only be handled by Hong Kong Immigration Department, while the applicants are physically in Hong Kong. Many visa holders may not be able to return to Hong Kong timely due to covid-19.

Hong Kong Immigration Department just announced that for those whose visa is about to expire (within four weeks) or has expired for less than 12 months, they can still submit the extension application, even though they are still in overseas. Processing time is around 2-3 weeks. Once approved, applicants can enter Hong Kong within 6 months to complete the extension procedures. This applies to all kinds of visa extension (except for domestic helpers and imported workers), e.g. employment visa, dependant visa, investment visa, CIES, etc.

This new policy is a very good news to visa holders, so as to:

1. Get the visa extended without being in Hong Kong for now
2. Enter Hong Kong with the approved visa (currently non-Hong Kong residents, including those with expired Hong Kong visas, cannot enter Hong Kong from overseas)
3. Get the expired extended

Related news：

For full procedural details, please contact our immigration consultants at (+852) 37497899

http://www.visapro.com.hk

News from Hong Kong Immigration Department:

https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/message_from_us/20201231.html